SMU 94, Houston 69 (PonyFans.com game story)
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2000 2:06 am
vs 
<B>December 17, 2000 at Moody Coliseum
Hancock leads wounded Mustangs past Houston, 94-69</B>
Most observers of the SMU men's basketball team will say that point guard Damon Hancock has been the Ponies' best player so far this season. The junior from Lancaster did little Saturday afternoon to disprove his supporters.
Hancock scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Ponies to a 94-69 win over the Houston Cougars at Moody Coliseum. Not only did he lead the team in scoring, he had a nearly perfect shooting day, draining 5-of-7 shots from the field (including all three attempts from behind the three-point stripe) and converting 13-of-14 free-throw attempts.
Hancock did not start the game, because of tardiness to a team function earlier in the week, according to head coach Mike Dement. But that did not quell Dement's enthusiasm for Hancock's performance.
"Damon was great coming off the bench," Dement said. "He was a little bit late to something this week, but he knew he made a mistake, he accepted coming off the bench and still had a great attitude. That's the kind of leadership we need from him."
In the Cougars, the Mustangs (6-1) were facing a lesser version of the powerful Tennessee team that dealt the Ponies their only loss of the season. Houston and Tennessee are teams with athletic guards capable of hitting perimeter shots, but both teams also have enormous interior players who can clog the lane, gather rebounds and draw fouls.
The size difference was made even more visible by the fact that the Ponies were playing without 6-10, 265-pound center Nigel Smith, who severely sprained his ankle in practice this week, and got very limited production from center Jon Forinash, who made his season debut after missing the Ponies' first six games of the year with a foot injury. (In his three minutes of playing time, Forinash had a rebound, blocked one shot and altered another.)
Without his two biggest players, Dement went to a center-by-committee, rotating forwards Jibran Kelley, DeWayne Floyd and Mike Niemi inside against the Cougars. Between them, the three combined for 18 points and 12 rebounds.
They were helped greatly when Houston big man Alton Ford -- all 6-9, 270 pounds of him -- fouled out early in the second half. Already saddled with four personal fouls, Ford earned his exit from the game when he argued a foul called against a teammate, earning him a technical foul (that also counts as a personal foul) and an early seat on the bench.
SMU forward Willie Davis, who had 13 points and seven rebounds, said Ford's early departure made life easier on both ends of the floor for the players battling for position inside.
"Coach (Dement) said he wanted us to 'front' him, and to do that we ended up doubling off someone else to double team him," Davis said. "He's real big, so it helped us a lot when he fouled out."
In addition to Hancock's 26 points and Davis' 13, the Ponies were led by guard Jeryl Sasser, who had 15, and guard Quinton Ross, who added 12.
Dement and the Mustangs got a real scare when with just a few minutes remaining in the game, Sasser went up toward the rim and got his feet swept out from under him by Houston¹s George Williams. Sasser crashed to the floor with a thud that silenced the crowd at Moody.
"I came down on my elbow first, and then my lower back," Sasser said. "I know I'm going to be sore when I wake up tomorrow."
"I'm a little concerned about Jeryl," Dement said. "We travel all day tomorrow (Monday, when the Ponies head to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the San Juan Shootout), and I'm sure he'll be sore. We'll see how he feels when we get there."
Photos from AP.
[This message has been edited by MustangMatt (edited 12-18-2000).]